Private Firm Steps In on Flu Reports Amid Shutdown

Oct 11, 2013 6:51 am ET

When it comes to the flu, the government shutdown was particularly ill-timed. Its flu trackers were furloughed just as the virus’s traditional season was getting underway.

That means no “FluView,” a weekly report that public health officials and doctors rely on to track whether flu is circulating heavily or not. Published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it shows the number of flu cases, hospitalizations and deaths nationwide and is based on data the CDC collects and analyzes from than 2,700 outpatient health-care providers around the nation, as well as from labs, hospitals, and other sources.

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